Gwyneth Paltrow made some rare comments about her ex-boyfriend, Ben Affleck, during a January 6 appearance on Amy Poehler’s podcast, “Good Hang.” The 53-year-old Goop founder was linked to Affleck, also 53, for three years in the late ’90s, per US Weekly’s timeline of the pair.
GettyOn the podcast, Paltrow was complimentary of her ex, praising his performance in “Good Will Hunting.” The topic came up as the pair discussed the late Robins Williams, and Poehler asked Paltrow whether she knew the “Flubber” star. Paltrow replied, “I only got to know him a bit when ‘Good Will Hunting’ came out, because I was dating one of the people who wrote that move and was in that movie at the time, and so I got to know him then,” she recalled, transparently referencing Affleck. Damon told Screenwriting In L.A. that he started the script in a college playwriting class, and later showed the first 40 pages to Affleck, who helped him finish it.
Paltrow clarified that she dated Affleck after “Good Will Hunting” filmed, as it was coming out. Poehler declared, “He’s so good in that movie,” to which Paltrow agreed, “So good. I love that movie. It’s a perfect movie.”
When Did Gwyneth Paltrow & Ben Affleck Date?
GettyAccording to Paltrow’s podcast comments, she began dating Affleck in 1997, around the time “Good Will Hunting” was released. That would have been in December. US Weekly says their first meeting was at a Miramax dinner earlier that year.
The magazine points out that Paltrow was freshly single at the time, having just called off her engagement to Brad Pitt. Paltrow spoke out about the split the following year, telling Entertainment Weekly, “When two people aren’t supposed to be together, they’re not supposed to be together.”
Affleck and Paltrow became a hot Hollywood ’90s couple, and were spotted going on double dates with Winona Ryder and Matt Damon.
Gwyneth Paltrow & Ben Affleck Stayed Publicly Friendly After Their Split
Paltrow and Affleck starred together in three films: “Shakespeare In Love,” “Dogma,” and “Bounce,” but their romance had run its course by the time “Bounce” was released in 2000. Affleck told EW that year, “I can tell you unequivocally that Gwyneth and I are not going out.”
Paltrow also spoke out about their status to the same outlet, saying, “We’re close. Sometimes when I’m in L.A., I stay in his house. But it’s not what people think it is. We are not together. I swear on my life. We’re not. It’s really art imitating life, only without the happy ending in our case. But we have another kind of happy ending, which is that we have a friendship. I love his family, even more than I love him. So that’s a good thing.”
